Seventeenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

The paper examines the current conditions of production and diffusion of the knowledge in the field of the Humanities, also exploring the prospects that may be opened for the future. Taking as a starting-point Sigmund Freud’s statements in the essay “The Future of an Illusion” (1927), we evaluate Freud’s diagnosis of the modern era and the roles played by religion and science in it. Next, the concept of “post-truth” is discussed as a key for the understanding of the present time, highlighting its implications on the field of the Humanities. At this point, themes such as the crisis of reason, the decline of the Humanities and the empire of technologies are adressed. Finally, the paper points out some possibilities for teaching and research in the Humanities nowadays. Following Max Weber’s ideas in “Science as Vocation” (1917), the need for both enthusiasm and discipline, without exaggerated optimism, but also without resignation or renunciation, is emphasized. As a conclusion, we argue that professors and researchers in the Humanities are charged with the task of keeping and transmitting a heirloom that is extremely valuable at present and may even be indispensable in the future.